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Canton wins first District 4 title in football since 1990

By Chris Masse 9 min read

TOWANDA--As the second half progressed, Canton quarterback Cooper Kitchen watched the play clock dwindle down. He and all his teammates had time to savor the journey and reflect on all the work, sacrifice and determination which produced this moment.

Friday night at Towanda’s Endless Mountain Complex offered Canton the moment it coveted since last November. And when it came, the Warriors owned it. Canton knocked down the wall it had chipped away at that past three seasons and ran into history.

Canton is District 4’s best Class A team. What a journey it has been.

Canton dominated all facets against a former nemesis, the starters scored on all six possessions and the Warriors scored 32 first-half points as they thumped Muncy, 45-7, and captured that elusive district championship. Canton (11-0) won its first district title since 1990, avenged three consecutive final losses by 11 combined points against Muncy and took their place among some of the program’s best teams ever.

"Year after we came so close to winning districts and to finally win it and beat Muncy is awesome," two-way lineman Caiden Williams said. "It’s kind of hard to explain. It was a lot of emotion, a lot of excitement, a lot of happiness. It’s just really awesome. It’s still sinking in right now a little bit but it’s still amazing.

"Coming into the fourth quarter it was hard to believe that it was pretty much over," Weston Bellows said after totaling 197 yards and scoring twice. "It was emotional. I was almost crying at the end of the game because of how happy I was."

Finally, Canton shed happy tears. The Warriors had relived a cruel rendition of Groundhog Day the past three seasons, losing heartbreakers each time. Last year was the most gut-wrenching as Muncy turned a nine-point third-quarter deficit into a 21-16 victory.

This time there would be not heartache, not dramatic comeback. The Warriors had been knocked down the last three years but the program kept moving forward. Now the gold medals are theirs.

Canton was on a mission, put its foot on the gas early and never let up, building a 32-0 halftime lead before extending that lead to 45-0 in the third quarter. All parts of the Canton machine came together and the Warriors made an emphatic statement against an outstanding opponent which tied a program record by winning 10 games this year.

Next up is a state tournament showdown against District 3’s champion, either Steelton-Highspire or Delone Catholic at a District 4 site next Saturday.

"It’s pretty unbelievable. I feel like a lot of those kids from the last three years had a lot to do with this because they built this program," Canton coach Tyler Sechrist said. "The last four years have been amazing. It’s coaches, it’s players and we’re blessed for a small school to have a lot of athletes, a lot of good kids."

"We’ve thought about this moment for years now. We had come up short for a few years so we knew we had a job to do and we knew we had to come out and do it," Riley Parker said after running for a game-high 97 yards and scoring two touchdowns. "I think we were preaching how we wanted to play perfectly and we played as perfectly as we could."

Coaching legend Vince Lombardi told his players at their first team meeting that they would relentlessly chase perfection knowing they would never attain it because nothing is perfect. But in doing so they would achieve excellence.

And goodness, has Canton caught excellence a lot this season.

The Warriors mercy-ruled their eighth opponent, the starting defense did allow a point for a sixth time and an unselfish, hard-working team played its best game yet at the perfect time.

Canton turned what many thought would be a classic between two of the state’s top-ranked teams into a rout. The Warriors scored 16 points in each of the first two quarters and imposed the mercy rule less than five minutes into the third quarter. All this against a three-time defending champion which had won 10 straight games.

"There was something different about this time," Sechrist said. "It was just like they knew they were going to do it."

The script flipped this year and it was this time Muncy which left the field dejected. Still, the Indians produced a tremendous season and added to the program’s tradition. Muncy (10-2) reached a fourth consecutive district final, captured the NTL-II championship and made it six straight years with either a district or league crown.

This was the first time Muncy’s seniors closed a season without a district title, but what a run they had what a legacy they left.

"We didn’t get the last game like we wanted to, but Canton is a very good team and they played great tonight," Muncy coach Sean Tetreault said. "Those seniors set the bar high for the standard of Muncy football. We have a good core coming back. We need some young guys to hit the weight room and take the pride these seniors instilled in the program and we’ll be OK."

Muncy survived a serious scare from Montgomery in the semifinals and immediately was in comeback mode after fumbling on the game’s first play. Hayden Ward recovered that fumble at the Muncy 30-yard line and six plays later, Parker produced a five-yard touchdown on fourth-and-goal. Ward ran in the first of four straight 2-point conversions and, for the first time in four finals against Muncy Canton struck first.

After Bellows stopped Branson Eyer at the 12-yard line on Muncy’s best drive of the first half, Canton went to work again. The Warriors converted two more fourth downs and put together a masterful 17-play, 88-yard drive. Cooper Kitchen’s 1-yard touchdown capped the drive and Parker’s 2-point run had Canton up 16-0 late in the first quarter and thinking about an early knockout.

"It was huge getting the momentum right away," Williams said. "Getting started like that was a huge factor."

Williams was part of an offensive line which again set the tone like they have throughout this season. He, Gage Pepper, Rian Eberly, Mason Harold, William Colton, Mason Shultz and Conner Davis all rotated in and drove back a strong defensive line, blowing open holes which different backs charged through before fighting for extra yards.

Canton covered 64 yards on six runs its next series with Ward’s one-yard touchdown run making it 24-0. The Warriors showed they can throw it, too, and Cooper Kitchen dropped a deep dime to Bellows on the next possession. Bellows (109 receiving yards, 88 rushing) caught the ball between two defenders and nearly went all the way. Three plays later he did and ripped off an 18-yard touchdown run down the left sideline.

A game which so many thought would be close had become a blowout and Canton led 32-0 at halftime.

"We need to shore things up. We needed to get stops and we just couldn’t get off the field," Tetreault said. "Last year we did that job and this year we weren’t able to get it done and Canton did a good job capitalizing on that."

"We wanted Muncy in the district final since Week 1. Watching the game last week with Montgomery just made all of us want it even more," Parker said. "We wanted Muncy to win that game so they could play us right here. We prepared well all week and really fed off that."

As Canton’s offense opened up, its stifling defense closed off running lanes, swarmed the passer and blanketed receivers. The starters held an offense averaging more than 350 yards per game to 170. Muncy moved the ball from its 15 to the 12 on its second drive but crossed midfield against the starters just once after that. When Muncy did start getting something going, the defense snuffed out the momentum and Ward tackled Branson Eyer for a five-yard loss at the Canton 27-yard line to close out a near flawless first half.

Muncy would not be saved by the bell either. Canton received the second-half’s opening kickoff and quickly went for the kill. Facing a second-and-16, Canton dialed up a halfback option and perfectly executed it. Bailey Ferguson rolled right, stopped, spotted Bellows breaking down the right sideline wide open and hit him in stride. Bellows ran the final 20 yards into the end zone, knowing Canton had all but sealed a championship 31 years in the making, going up 38-0.

"It was a great call by our coach. He was studying the corners and it was a great call by him," Bellows said. "I came out and blocked and the guy shot right in because he thought it was a run. Those should be the coach’s yards. It was a great feeling."

The good times continued when the starters made it six straight touchdown drives on the ensuing possession. The Warriors moved 58 yards on nine plays and Parker’s 10-yard touchdown run made it 45-0.

Ty Nixon capped a fantastic scholastic career when he scored the game’s final touchdown, going seven yards as Muncy made it 45-7. Fellow seniors Bailey Hadzinikolov and Isaac Harris also shined throughout the last four years and each topped 10 tackles. Sophomore Boe Steele was all over the field as well, making 10 tackles.

Parker, Bellows and Ward all went over 75 rushing yards and Canton’s first four touchdowns were scored by different players. Parker went over 1,000 yards this season on his second carry, but he was not thinking about that before, during or after the game.

Canton only cares about winning. It is a team as unselfish as it is talented.

What a team it has become.

"We were 100 percent ready to play. Practices were getting really exciting. We were hitting people harder and harder," Williams said. "We had to start slowing down so we didn’t hurt each other. We can feel the excitement. It’s just amazing."

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